The Williams sisters are old (in tennis terms), injured (Serena always), sick (Venus), tired (Venus), and out of shape (Serena). And after two rounds of play they’re both out of the 2012 French Open.

Following Serena’s first-ever first round exit at a Grand Slam on Tuesday at the hands of French journeywoman Virginie Razzano, Venus followed-up on Wednesday by losing in the second round 6-2, 6-3 to No. 3 seed Aggie Radwanska.

The seven-time Slam winner Venus has been working at a tour comeback ever since announcing at last year’s US Open that she was suffering from the fatigue-producing Sjogren’s syndrome. The 2012 French Open was her first Slam attempt since then.

“This is just the beginning for me,” said Venus, happy to be on the court again, and working toward a rankings eligibility to play the Olympics for the U.S. “Again. I have to be positive when I walk out on the court. I’m not playing under ideal circumstances but at the moment it’s about improving Olympic chances so I’ll deal with this somehow.”

World No. 1 Victoria Azarenka, who struggled mightily in her first match, on Wednesday rolled over German qualifier Dinah Pfizenmaier 6-1 6-1.

“I never knew her before but I had to do a little bit of research yesterday, and I do remember her name — it’s just a little bit difficult to pronounce,” Azarenka said.

“It’s still only the third round and there is a long way to go yet before you are holding the trophy,” said Stosur, who will next meet Russian veteran Nadia Petrova.

Venus Williams’ trip-up was part of American women putting in a dreadful 1-6 win-loss on Wednesday. Former US Open darling Melanie Oudin was part of the carnage, thumped 6-2, 6-3 by Sara Errani.

“She’s definitely one of the best grinders on the clay, for sure,” Oudin said. “So it’s not a great match-up for me. But I think after being down 5-0 in the first set, I started playing much better. I’m still trying to get back, and definitely it was good to see how I matched up against her.”

Other Americans sent home Wednesday, all in straight sets, were qualifier Alexa Glatch losing to No. 18 Flavia Pennetta, and Vania King beaten by No. 15 Dominika Cibulkova.

The lone U.S. winner was Sloane Stephens, who beat fellow American Bethanie Mattek-Sands of 6-1, 6-1.

On the men’s side Wednesday there were no seeded upsets, but No. 11-seeded Frenchman Gilles Simon was stretched to the limit by American feel-good story Brian Baker. Simon won the first two sets before Baker evened the match at two sets all, but Simon ran away with the fifth set 6-0.

“Of course, I was feeling it in the body,” Baker said of the fifth set. “But it was more a case of me playing a couple of bad points in the first two games of the set. I was a little more nervous, being one set away from winning, and I tried to end a couple of points too soon.”

TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBSOnly two American men remain, both from the SEC: Jesse Levine and John Isner…Canadian-born Jesse Levine plays Canadian Milos Raonic who was born in Montenegro…For the first time both Williams sisters failed to reach the third round…Ayumi Morita is 0-13 career against Top 10 players, she plays Maria Sharapova…Aga Radwanska could be ranked No. 1 on the WTA computer a week from Monday…Gilles Simon has never lost to an American at the French Open (7-0)… Li Na has won 8 straight matches at Roland Garros…Roger Federer now leads every man in history with 234 career Grand Slam singles match wins…2010 French Open champion Francesca Schiavone is just two wins shy of 500 total WTA victories…The last time there were no American men in the 3rd round at the French Open was in 2007…Paul-Henri Mathieu won the French Open junior title in 2000…Brian Baker will rise into the Top 130 in the next ATP Rankings.

It is clear that Venus is unfortunately on the way down. To be handled as she did today was a somewhat sad.
To see younger Americans at the Olympics would be a great thing. Sloan Stephens seems to be the next American hope. Whomever the 4 are, it will be a difficult task to bring gold home.

It can be very confusing, I know, even Slovenia and Slovakia don’t have common border. When I came to Australia it was still Yugoslavia (Jugoslavija) and when I was telling my Aussie friends where I am from, lot of them use to say ” o yes, I know you are from Czechoslovakia” , now it is even more confusing with so many new states in Eastern Europe:)
I don’t blame them.

I cannot do that way, when I was little we were not alowed to point to something with the finger, it was considered very unpolite by my mother, we had to say it:) even today I don’t feel comfortable when I am pointing with my arm (finger) .

Only caught about 10 minutes of the Nadal/Istomin match this morning, but it didn’t look like Istomin ever had a chance. He gives Nadal plenty of rhythm, not much pace, and eventually throws up a fluff ball on his backhand for Nadal to move in and punish. While generally a bad match-up for most, a particularly bad match-up for Istomin.

Interesting to hear your take on what you saw of Rafa/Istomin TMR. I missed it but the stats back up your point about Rafa “moving in and punishing” – he won 12 of 14 points at net.

I was surprised to see that Mathieu broke back against Isner. And where is PHM when he’s not at the FO? Seems like I don’t see him all year, and then up he pops at the French, and there he is on centre court in a big match. His singles ranking in #261! Has he been injured or what?

When I watched the Dimitrov-Young match, I though the former played too far behind the baseline. That tactic used to be effective during Borg’s time but they used wooden racquets then. I don’t think you can play effectively by staying way behind the baseline all the time.

@jane: yea, true what you say about PHM. That guy has been known to bring it at the FO. He didn’t play at all last year (knee injury) and has been mixing in 250 events with challengers for much of this year. I remember a few years ago he gave Fed a tough battle for the first hour or so in the third round at Roland Garros. Took the first set off of him even.

Yeah I went at checked ATP to see what PHM has been up to. Seems he also became a father to a little boy in March, and I noticed that most events he’s played this year have been, relatively speaking, closer to home. I remember that match against Fed I think. He usually goes at least a couple rounds here. Too bad he was never able to break into the top ten. He was ranked 12th in 2008 though.

Polo, I have noticed that about Dimitrov too; I didn’t see the Young match, but I have noticed in other matches, one against Berydch I think, where Gregor played too far behind the baseline. If it works anywhere, though, might that be on clay? Because of the high bounce and such?

Yes, of all the surfaces, clay may be the one where you can play a bit behind the baseline but Dimitrov stands so way behind all the time. It must be tough to switch into an effective offensive mode from so far. And nowadays, a purely defensive game will get you nowhere. I would like to see how he plays against Gasquet.

The ‘most destructive force in men’s tennis’ is now trailing 2 sets to 1. Matthieu is really stepping up, nice to see. He has been through the wringer. I see that Dimitrov took the first set against Gasquet. I wish TV would show that match instead of Tipsy/Chardy.

Dimitrov v Gasquet is delightful!! but I have an appointment…will have to catch it later. It’s baby fed v baby fed :)

If you watch cycling you know Slovenia from Slovakia; both countries have great cyclists. Czech good ones too and Polish. But not many from Serbia or Croatia. Not sure why. There are some very good World cup skiers from Croatia. No shortage of mountains, I don’t think. But most Polish and Slovak cyclists are on Italian teams and the Czech’s and Croat’s are on Astana. But that has nothing to do with anything, I don’t think; just coincidence and me yabbering. sorry to miss this match, Dimitrov v Gasquet.

Gasquet isn’t playing that well whereas Dimitrov seems to be playing very well: he’s hitting more winners than Gasquet – more errors too, but he’s the one making things happen. He’s just broken to serve for the second set. Gasquet is having an off day, only 55% first serves, 7 double faults! Eek. This is looking like an upset at this point.

^ Good point racquet. It can work in 3 set or Davis Cup format, to go those long matches, but if he is going 5 sets too often early at the slams, it could wear him down. He’s hanging in there so far today though. One kind of feels like PHM is just at the edge, that Isner will outlast/outserve him ultimately.

Gasquet had to deal with a lot in that win: a streaking Dimitrov, a cramping Dimitrov; his own on and off form. It was a good win for him. Dimitrov better hit the gym! He really does have all the shots but he was moody and crampy from the second set onwards.

Me neither. There is no matchups in the draw against Rafa that are interesting (imo) to watch until the finals.

Iso is not a good test. He is terrible against lefties, and his success is on grass/indoors. In Rafa’s first match, the guy he played hasn’t won A match on Clay this year. Rafa will finally get a test in the Finals….l

Mathieu/Granoliers should just withdraw together and sit by a pool with cheese, grapes and Vino and call it a day.

By the sounds of it Istomin played well but didn’t adjust to Rafa’s tactics. I haven’t seen it; waiting for the replay. But I read some write ups and apparently Rafa was playing way back for the ROS, 10 ft behind the baseline, and Istomin kept slamming serves deep into the box. Why not take something off it and go for angles? I guess it’s easier said than done. But I did see a couple highlights and Rafa was chasing everything down, including some shots that would be winners versus others.

Here is what I posted on the other thread about the remaining draw:

….Of the top four’s remaining draws through the semis, in my opinion, Murray and Nole’s are the most dangerous. They should get through the next matches okay, assuming Murray is healthy: Murray v Giraldo, Nole v Devilder. But then Nole faces either Seppi or Hotsauce (both fairly hot on clay this year) and Murray faces Haas or Gasquet. I think Gasquet and Hotsauce are the two more dangerous opponents here. If they win, in the QFs Nole could have Tsonga, Simon, Wawrinka or Fognini, and personally I think Simon could be the toughest, while Muzza will likely have Ferrer (can’t see anyone left in that section taking him out). In short, there are tough possible opponents in both the R16 and QFs for them, whereas Fed and Rafa have only one possible rough pre-semi, and Rafa’s probably isn’t even rough.

This is Rafa at RG after all. The tough match could be the R16 versus Milos or Monaco. But come on: he’ll still win it, probably in straight sets. His QF will be Nico or Tispy, neither of which is a threat, and likely his semi will be Ferrer, whom he owns. So he will surely get to the finals, likely without dropping a set.

Fed has an easy route to the QF, and unless Berdych reaches that point – who is the only one in that section that can trouble Fed imo (Delpo hasn’t taken even a set in their last 4 matches has he? Plus he has a knee injury from Madrid) – then I think Fed sails into the semis rather comfortably.

Indeed I think it could be a Fedal final again. It’s only third round so anything can happen of course, but that’s just my hunch. I think Nole could reach the semi, and I hope he does, but Fed might be in better shape at that point.

All speculation; all to play for, but that’s just how it looks. Maybe given that my faves are Nole and Muzza it affects my view, but if we honestly look at rankings, clay success, match ups etc, I think it’s a pretty fair assessment.

i look at this as, who is the most vulnerable one and possibly won’t make it to SF, in that scenario:

1- Murray: NO DOUBT ABOUT IT. IF he makes QF it’s an achievement for him.

2- Federer: BERDYCH is very dangerous- the toughest opponent for any of the top 3 pre SF.

3- Djokovic: i agree with you (jane) that on paper he has a yough route- BUT for me he doesn’t have anyone as dangerous as berdych who may beat him. Granted verdasco and simon might give him a tough BUT neither really can beat him. It will be a shock if he were to even lose 2 sets to either- let alone a match.

4- Nadal: its RG. simple as that for rafa.

- who’s playing the best so far:

1- Nadal: based on scoreline its him- BUT IMO as a rafa fan, i recognise this as a FALSE position. He’s played the easiest opponents so far.

2- Djokovic: at times in his matches a bit shaky BUT straight set wins, one bagel, and generally fairly solid on serve.

3- Federer: at times- in full flow- he’s looked the BEST IMO, BUT he has lost a set, and has the most UE.

4- Murray: not looking good at all really. should he carry on in the tourny is the real question with him.

I’d rather agree with Brando, this time, except for Rafa. I think Ferrer could be a danger. He was close every time they played this year, and I can’t believe he won’t be able to win at least a set. Raonic shouldn’t be a problem, but Monaco plays well and could be a good test to Rafa, though I don’t really believe he could endanger him. I believe that Nico could make a match, too.

About Berdych: it all depend on Roger’s return of serve and of his overall level. The big Czech could pose some problems, but Roger should pull through. Berdych looks good against Rafa, who use to defend very much, but against Roger, Tipsy or Nole, who make him run a lot, he doesn’t leave the same impression.

I didn’t look at Andy’s quarter, but he should make the quarter. Just checked: he has Giraldo and Haas, or perhaps Gasquet. Gasquet could be dangerous, but I bet on Haas.

Nole has Devilder and Seppi in the next two rounds: shouldn’t be that hard.

Murray and Nole have the toughest to the semis. Call it whatever you will, but it’s supportable, considering the things I mentioned: ranking, success on clay, AND match ups.

When you factor in the latter, it highlights the variables more. None of those people you mention Fritz have beaten Rafa on clay and I’d wager a guess that he was winning H2Hs versus them.

Meanwhile, Hotsauce is 3-2 over Nole on clay and even beat Raafa this year, and Gasquet just beat Muzz in Rome. Tsonga is 5-5 with Nole (well Nole does have the only clay match on his side), and Simon and Wawa are both solid on clay. Simon is a particularly tough out. Ferrer has always beaten Muzza on clay. In semis Nole would have to beat Fed, likely, or Berdych, possibly, the one people claim is dangerous for Fed. Muzz would have to beat Rafa!

mat4, I won’t be surprised if Cilic beats Delpo either; Delpo is injured and has already struggled in his past couple of matches. But Cilic beating Berdych? Berdych just beat him at MC this year 7-6, 6-1 and he is 4-1 H2H over him. I’d be surprised. On hard court perhaps, but clay? I’d have to say Berd.

Totally agree! I mean Fed’s won the FO and been in the final another 4 times. He’s the toughest semi by far!

“QTRS:ALmagro / Tipsy or Tsonga / simon – EQUAL again.”

It’s close perhaps but I think if Nole could pick he would rather have Tipsy or Almagro. (Tsonga and Simon are both Frenchies so crowd support. Tsonga has taken Fed out at a slam and been in a slam final; plus he loves a big match. Simon had Fed on the ropes at the AO and has been playing well on the dirt this spring).

@jane: I’d still say EQUAL. Tipsy and alamgro are both better than tsonga on clay. Simon nearly lost to baker. BAR home crowd, I think it’s a very good draw. Out of the 4 almagro and Simon MAY push rafa or nole, BUT neither would win IMO. Re fed or ferrer: it’s a bit of a silly comparison there by fritz TBH.

I love the guy but he is hurt and won’t go much further in FO 2012. That is why Ferrer will be well rested and relatively unchalenged for his semis.

Federer vs. Ferrer in semifinal? Have in mind that both Rafa and Nole are in this to win it all and not just to make the final. Therefore, both of them would prefer Federer in semis over well rested (he will be) Ferrer. The main reason: win or lose, matches against Fed are relatively short and do not take as much energy as Ferrer matches.

For Novak, if he beats Fed in semis (~2.5 hours), he will be much fresher for the final compared to what would be the case had he played and defeated Ferrer in semis (~4.5 hours).
The same applies for Rafa. I doubt his knees like facing rested Ferrer before potentially grueling final with Nole.

Yep, that’s what I’m guessing but I’m thinking ‘alejandrobello’ is female, clearly follows and knows tennis…alejandrobello is just too great a username to be male…and you write the minutes and hours like jane. so please alejandrobello spare me from my imagination! ;)

and …whoever, wherever you are ale ale jandro bello…you have more comments on your bracket than any of us…come tell us your secret on the bracket, okay?

i can’t believe all the hard draw, easy draw nonsense every bracket. It’s all relative, depending on the conditions of the players, the surface, all sorts of variables. I don’t doubt there’s some ‘fixing’ of the top seeds. But in the end, hey, all Murray’s opponents look hard because of his back issues, all Rogers look hard because it’s 5 setters and he’s at an age disadvantage, all Nole’s look relatively easy – Nole is afterall #1 and in good health now – emotionally there’s the question but he is quite the physical specimen, and Rafa’s opponents look lame because Rafa owns Chartrier if he’s healthy and he does look healthy; 25 years old, new life in his knees, and the king of Clay.

In 13 matches on clay against Nadal, Ferrer has won 3 sets. In 14 matches on clay against Nadal, Federer has won 2 matches and 10 sets. For Rafa the easier opponent is Ferrer if we go by this.

In 5 matches on clay Fed is 3-2 over Nole, including last year’s semifinal at RG. Nole’s won 6 sets over Fed. Nole has played Ferrer 4 times on clay and has won only once. So maybe for Nole the easier opponent is Fed? Fritz could be right in this case if we go strictly by results.

But in a grand slam over 5 sets, Fed has always proven tougher to beat than Ferrer, no matter what slam. And at the FO Fed’s won and reached 5 finals whereas Ferrer has never reached the semis. So I don’t know. I still say Fed is the tougher one ALL things considered, but Ferrer is a tough out.

jane, i notice bracket details cos i’m obsessed. the question was: how many minutes will the final go on. you put it in hours and minutes, so did alejandrobello, i was teasing you though about being alejandrobello :D

the rest of us put the final in minutes like skeezer’s made me laugh because he has nadal and djokovic going 480 minutes lol….

well, I very humbly must disagree about Federer and 5 setters, jane. When has he won a 5 set match vs Rafa on clay? I mean is it really that much of a possibility? Nadal would need to be injured, imo. Stranger things have happened, I guess…

Jane, i was just looking at your link. i remember a while back rafa used to clock very high first serve %. he was regularly doing over 75%. Looks like he is going for placement now..while during the old days he wasn’t going for placement much.

Murray is serving much higher too which is surprising for him. Good news for murray if he can keep this up.

Anything over 60% is very good from what i hear from commentators. 72% for djokovic must be a dream.

Kimmi, yeah I thought those stats were interesting, just to see where they’re all “at” so far, areas they could improve etc. One thing that I thought was ironic is that Rafa has clocked the least amount of time on court. :)

conty, sure, lately over 5 sets Fed hasn’t been great, but come on, he’s the current King of Slams regardless having always reached at least QFs and having won 16 of em. That makes him a tougher out over 5 sets than Ferrer in my opinion. Fedal considerations aside.

^^well, rafa has lost only 4 games today, so it does make sense. while fed and djokovic have been pushed to tie breaks already. Federer errors are too many imo. I think it must be his first round match that made it look worse. He played much better in the second round.

I think TP is updating it every round. It will be interesting to see how it all pans out.

Guess it depends on your perspective and opinion about Federer, jane. You, and legions of other Fedfans agree. The numbers don’t tell the whole story, numbers and stat’s vary over time. It’s about less mileage in the body and a whole lot of things vs more clever and experienced now. If he can conserve himself and not have tough 4 and 5 setters prior to the GS final, maybe. I’m more skeptical about him now v when he was even 28, let’s say. And you can’t count him out in other tournaments. I just don’t believe he can beat both a healthy Djokovic and Nadal in a GS 5 set match. It’s my opinion because I worry for Federer’s health and toll it takes on him physically during back to back 5 setters at his age. Depends on the day and the opponent and how he fared getting through the GS draw, whether the draw appears easy or not. It’s not mostly on his racquet like it was in his glory days – minus FO vs Rafa, of course.

I don’t know for Roger, Rafa and Andy (I watched only parts of their matches), but I believe I could tell a few words about Nole’s stats.

He seems to work very much on his serve placement lately, especially down the T. But you can still notice that when he is tired, his % drops or he serve with more safety. That reduce vastly the efficiency of his first serve. He has improved his second serve too.

His overall level of play improves greatly when he serves well. It was clear in his first two matches, especially against PS and in the first set against Kavcic.

He still doesn’t hit his flat FH with the indispensable consistency (ouf!).

His main problem is that he doesn’t have a clear strategy when to approach the net. It could cost him dearly in a potential final, though he will, of course, without any doubts, win, especially if he plays Schwank or Tipsy.